YouTube, Sprint CEOs Among Business Leaders Endorsing Clinton

Published on September 23, 2016.

Hillary Clinton's campaign on Friday announced endorsements from more than 40 business leaders, including some longtime Democratic donors, as she tries to emphasize her economic credentials going into her first face-to-face debate with Republican Donald Trump next week.

CEO of YouTube Susan Wojcicki. Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty Images

The list, which is heavy on executives in technology and entertainment, includes Sprint Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems. In June, the Clinton team released a list of more than 50 business leaders -- including a handful of Republicans -- who were backing her over Trump.

"We're fortunate a growing number of business leaders recognize Hillary Clinton is the right candidate for the economy," Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement provided to Bloomberg ahead of the list's formal release. "Donald Trump's plan would balloon the debt while costing jobs -- setting our economy back and leaving the middle class out in the cold."

The group includes some who've backed other candidates as well. Stephen Luczo, CEO of Seagate Technology, who has supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past, gave $50,000 to a super-PAC that supported Ohio Governor John Kasich's unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination.

There are also plenty of high-profile Clinton supporters.

DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg last year gave $1 million to pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action while Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, on Monday hosted President Barack Obama at a Hillary Victory Fund event that attendees paid $25,000 or more to attend. Jonathan Tisch, co-chairman of Loews, has long been a donor to Democrats and hosted a Clinton fundraiser in the Hamptons in August.

The list also includes Vint Cerf, a creator of the Internet's communications language who holds the title of Google's chief Internet evangelist, PayPal chairman John Donahoe, Opower President Alex Laskey and former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold.